Faz

Dalo Harkin - When this is done, it gives the "boot disk failure" error. The problem is somehow with the HDD or XP install. Due to a lack of time to get this sorted, i have resorted to using knoppix/linux on a CD and copying the data USB HDD. This will mean that I need to reinstall my windows xp, but that is much less hassle than losing the data in the first place! Thanks for your help you too, shame it couldnt be fixed the 'proper' way, as I am fairly certain the XP install was a bit messed up and just wouldnt boot, despite all the commands/fixes i did in the recovery console , as the HDD reads fine in linux. finally, sorry wolf - i did not mean to test your patience

I have never tried to boot from this PATA drive, i have only wanted to browse the files to back them up. I apologise for the bad communication but seeing as this problem is complicated, it is hard to explain it fully over a forum.

You are almost there! I always intended to boot from the SATA drive, as the PATA was having problems in another computer.

Ignore number 1, number 2 is correct. The SATA drive worked correctly until i installed a PATA drive. The system would not boot with this PATA drive in so i removed it and thats when the SATA drive stopped booting.

ok i see, my apologies, that first post is very confusing and infact wrong. the pata drive was not installed to fix this system, it was installed to try and recover data from it, which is another issue. This system was working correctly before it was added, but not after. I don't see how adding/removing a new drive would break the SATA drive, physically, causing the "BOOT DISK FAILURE...". i can see how adding/removing drives may have 'confused' the bios/mobo somehow though?

You originally had a system with a sata drive containing XP - Yes, it did boot fine, then after adding & removing a pata drive, it ceased to boot. You tried to install an PATA drive that had XP on it hoping to boot from that? - No, the PATA drive was added to try and fix THAT drive, but in turn it somehow stopped this system from working even after it was removed. I'm surmising that the board contains both IDE and SATA connections? - Yes, atm just 1 IDE for DVD drive, 1 SATA for hdd. I believe the problem is with the BIOS/Mobo/maybe hdd? I can change the boot sequence to HDD only, and the computer will show the "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" error. Thanks for the reply & sorry for the confused first post, this problem is quite over my head :)

Thanks for the replies, RandyL - I have checked the cables and ran both fixboot and fixmbr, and chkdsk again, just out of desperation :). The same problem is occuring. Dalo Harkin - The problem is not with the PATA drive (this belongs, and now is back in another computer). MY computer wont boot with its original OS on a SATA drive :)

Not sure where to put this really, could be lots of problems! :S I have had big troubles with me computer recently. Heres the story: I installed a PATA drive (that contained an install of xp) into my computer, because it wouldn't boot and i wanted to back stuff up using the previous xp install already on my computer. when this PATA drive was installed, my computer would not boot because of a 'computer disk hardware configuration problem' I then removed the PATA drive, and my computer booted as usual. therefore i installed the PATA drive to try and fix it again, but no luck (the PATA drive problem is a different issue, now resolved). i removed the PATA drive again, and my computer would not boot, giving an error similar to 'could not boot OS.' To try and fix this, I have ran CHKDSK from the xp recovery console/CD, 1 error was found and fixed. I have also removed all other HDD's and tried different SATA/power cables. Since trying these fixes, the error has changed to an 'NVIDIA boot agent' error. Now when booting my computer with the DVD drive in, it will ONLY boot from the dvd, regardless of what is in the boot sequence. Removing this DVD brings up the NVIDIA boot agent error, despite 'network' not being in the boot sequence either. Disabling the LAN in the bios brings up the "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" error. The NVIDIA Boot Agent error is as follows: The interesting thing is xp recovery will see the original XP install on my HDD, so i am confused as to why it wont boot it properly. i have thought about doing a FIXMBR using the recovery, but don't want to kill/break this HDD as it does have stuff i don't want to lose! If anyone has any questions just ask, any help is much appreciated! thanks. Hardware: mobo - DFI Infinity NF UltraII M2 HDD's - Samsung 80GB